Raw Squid

I flew a plane

by Raw Squid,posted Sep 3 2009 6:40PM

When asked the question "What super power would you want?" Most people choose, flight. The others are split between reading mind reading and being invisible. I recently took a flying lesson.
I had no idea what to expect. I didn't know if I was going to have a 1 hour long class going over slides or if I would just fly the plane after the instructor did the take off and got us in a safe area. www.LetsGoFlying.com contacted me and asked if I wanted to take a flying lesson. I jumped on the chance, you mean I get to fly a plane?!? The weather was going to be perfect it was a very sunny and 90 degree day. I had no idea what to expect. I showed up to www.gorgewindsinc.com out in Troutdale and walked inside and found my instructor, Matt. He said let me grab my bag and we'll get you a headset and we'll go flying. I was still thinking we were going to have a little class or something. We went outside and found the plane we would be flying. A four seater Cessna Skyhawk
Matt and I walked around the plane doing our preflight check, checking the gas in each wing to making sure everything that was supposed to move, moved. After about 30 minutes of talking and checking everything that was on the preflight checklist we climbed inside. Since I was taking a flying lesson I was going to sit in the Pilot seat on the left hand side.
A few more checks of things and Matt asked if I wanted to taxi the plane down to the runway. I had issues, i kept playing with the yoke "steering wheel" but when not in the air you drive with pedals. We were about to get on the runway and Matt was telling me about take off and when to pull back a little and TAKE OFF.
It was amazing, flying a plane. I did the take off with Matt taking care of everything that didn't involve pulling back and flying. He called the tower, ran thru more of the check list and he asked, Are you ready to fly? He told me to give it full power and when we hit so and so speed pull back a little and when we hit a faster speed pull back and ....take off. The feeling of flight was a feeling that you can only experience if you were a super hero or flying a plane. We flew to the desired altitude and Matt the flight instrutor told me to fly toward that canyon looking area. I'm from here so I have a keen sense of where the heck we were. We flew over the area I grew up in and did some turning. I wan't nervous, I expected it to be crazy like the video game flight simulators that you might find at a fun center. Being a smaller plane you feel everything, the wind and the wind. But I felt very safe. I felt more safe flying a plane then when I first jumped on a Harley and punched it. The first wind gust was odd because it moved and I didn't do anything. Matt was giving me instruction from the 2 min turn gauge to using the trim. It was pretty easy and I had more fun then I would of guessed. Matt asked if we wanted to fly over my house or any other place around and I said it would be cool if we could fly over downtown since that is where I work, live and play. So, I flew to the Sellwood Bridge and Matt took over so I could take pictures. Which I was having so much fun flying I kind of wasn't thinking about taking the photos.
The cool thing is www.letsgoflying.com isn't just a program to set up flight lessons. Once you find a participating flight school you can do many things, maybe you want to take pictures or charter a flight.
www.letsgoflying.com doesn't just help you find a place for flying lessons. The plane that I flew can be rented for just $99 an hour and just $40 for the instructor per hour. I was expecting the price to be thru the roof. I mean it's flying a plane. But the $99 covers everything, no hidden gas charge like that or anything. The rules for getting your license depend on the state and what kind of flying you want to do but it can be done. I know a few people in my life that will be getting a lesson for their Birthday or Christmas. Oh did I tell you I landed the plane?? YES, I did the take off, flew for almost an hour and....landed the plane. It was amazing and I can't wait to do it again. If you want to fly a plane it is possible, I suggest doing it once and seeing what the feeling of flight is like. If you have any questions check out these links or send me an email or email my flight instructor Matt. He has a true passion for flying and it rubs off on ya and you feel very safe and it was an amazing time.
www.letsgoflying.comwww.gorgewindsinc.comsquid@947.fmmatt@mattreese.com